This is a missive from an enforcer of the totalitarian theocracy portrayed in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale (weekly episodes streaming Wednesdays, *** 1/2 out of four) to a group of trembling women forced to become enslaved breeders under the new regime.

But it would be a disservice to Handmaid’s to focus only on its political undertones. The novel has been a part of the feminist discourse (and many college syllabi) for more than 30 years. It’s what the show does with its heavy and consequential themes that makes it such vital viewing.

The show centers on Offred, the titular handmaid played by Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss. In the new dystopian society, women are enslaved and categorized into groups: Wives, housekeepers and breeders known as “handmaids.” Offred is repeatedly raped by Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) in an attempt to conceive a child for him and wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski), who was hit by the crisis of infertility that helped the new government gain power. Rounding out the cast are Samira Wiley as Moira, Offred’s best friend from the old world, and Alexis Bledel as her new ally, Ofglen.

A palpable sense of fear and tension underlies every scene, whether it’s Offred being interrogated by the security services or a flashback to an encounter with a coffee shop employee who calls her and Moira “sluts” a little too easily. Moss’s makeup-less face is a mask of submission and deference as Offred navigates her tenuous place in the new society. An affecting voice-over underlines the internal struggles she goes through every second in her role as “a womb with two legs.”

Alexis Bledel, most recently seen in the return of 'Gilmore Girls' on Netflix, stars in Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale.'(Photo: Take Five/Hulu)

The rest of the cast gives solid performances, especially Wiley as the fired-up Moira, but the show rests on Moss’s shoulders, and she gamely carries every one of her scenes.

Handmaid’s Tale is undeniably beautiful. Every shot is seemingly painted on the screen, from dozens of red-and-white-clad handmaids encircling an accused man to deliver mob justice, to a poignant flashback to Offred with her daughter silhouetted against the glass of an aquarium. The series is laced with stark color symbolism, from the handmaids' reds to the upper-class wives wearing shades of blue to the totalitarian rulers in black and kept in shadow, controlling the world from a place of deceit and darkness.

The show falters slightly in its haphazard editing style, trying to pack so much crucial information into its many flashbacks that it sometimes comes off clumsily. In early episodes, it may be hard for viewers who have not read the book to keep up, but later ones flow more smoothly, and backstories become more insightful.

Dark dystopias and “important” television may feel ordinary in our current pop-culture landscape; even movies such as The Boss Baby evoke comparisons to Trump. But The Handmaid’s Tale is something unique, with an adult take on the dystopian genre and a somber and relevant story about the lives and fears of women. The show serves as a wake-up call, and you won’t easily fall back asleep after viewing.